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Fracking sees holes bored deep into the ground. Engineers inject a blend of chemicals, water and sand at high pressure to split shale rock containing natural gas and it is brought to the surface.

Fracking became controversial in the UK after one firm set off minor earth tremors when it started using the method near Blackpool.

And it is a topic of debate in the US, where shale gas is exploited on a large scale and footage has been captured of people able to ignite water coming out of their taps because of gas contamination.

There are shale gas deposits in Derbyshire - in the north of the county and a small one between Derby and Long Eaton and beyond the town to the east.

But experts say these are not the main places firms firms will look at for exploratory drilling.

Mr Williamson said Mr Cameron’s proposals would “create suspicion in the minds of people, particularly at a time when local Government is under pressure from funding cuts”.

He said: “I think it’s very irresponsible of the Government to put that incentive out there - on the one hand taking money from local authorities and, on the other, making these funds available.”

Chris Corbett, Tory leader of Erewash Borough Council, which includes Long Eaton, said the business rates situation would have no affect on a planning application decision.

He said: “If you look at America it’s clear fracking has transformed their energy industry and I think we’d be foolish not to investigate.

“We wouldn’t say no to money but equally it would not be a reason to grant an application. It wouldn’t swing the decision one way or another.”

The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, said the announcement was a "step in the right direction" but any packages had to "fairly remunerate" those affected.

"Given the significant tax breaks being proposed to drive forward the development of shale gas and the impact drilling will have on local communities, these areas should not be short-changed by fracking schemes," said a spokesman.

Dr Satterfield, senior lecturer in geology at The University of Derby, said the Derbyshire gas deposits would not be “the main place looked at”. She said: “There are so many other places where there are deposits of shale gas that are more suitable for early investigation.

“At some point in the future, if resources were really limited, then they might begin looking at more marginal areas. But Lincolnshire and the North-West are the places they are likely to start looking.”

Mr Cameron’s announcement comes as French company Total confirmed plans to invest about £30m to help drill two exploratory wells in Lincolnshire.

15 comments

It is our future which companies such as TOTAL are proposing ti ruin, as well as future generations. TOTAL were responsible for the biggest oil spill in France when the Erika oil tanker spilt millions of litres of oil over the Brittany coast. They then spent years in court arguing that they should not pay compensation.
Fracking needs debunking.
The British economy would be £20bn a year better off by 2030 if it favoured offshore wind over gas-fired generation as the driver of an overhaul of the country's energy infrastructure over the next two decades, according to a recent report by the think tank Cambridge Econometrics.

It bemuses me to see those protesters acting like hooligans on television over the prospect of clean, safe, efficient, affordable, energy independence. Don't they realised that Hydraulic fracturing is benign technology that is ecologically sound and economically advantageous? For God's sake this will create 74,000 jobs and would probably give these hooligans something to strive for in their miserable lives. And is it any wonder that the above campaign of misinformation has led to widespread hysteria, disruption, baseless claims, and repeated media fodder. The campaign against UK's natural gas revolution needs a thorough debunking in Parliament.
Shutting down cheap affordable power plants is no way to keep the lights on!

It bemuses me to see those protesters acting like hooligans on television over the prospect of clean, safe, efficient, affordable, energy independence. Don't they realised that Hydraulic fracturing is benign technology that is ecologically sound and economically advantageous? For God's sake this will create 74,000 jobs and would probably give these hooligans something to strive for in their miserable lives. And is it any wonder that the above campaign of misinformation has led to widespread hysteria, disruption, baseless claims, and repeated media fodder. The campaign against UK's natural gas revolution needs a thorough debunking in Parliament.
Shutting down cheap affordable power plants is no way to keep the lights on!

I'm all for fracking but I still believe that we should still keep coal power stations running as a backup utility, or have a hybrid power station that can either run on coal or gas. And in the meantime this government should abandon all means of wind farm and solar technology and redistribute its government subsidies towards improving medical science, education, welfare and the disadvantaged.

The company planning to frack here - Total - were responsible for France's worst oil spill – the Erika oil tanker. If so 'safe,'and 'environmentally friendly' why has France banned fracking?? Other points to remember are that shale gas cannot be part of the energy mix if the UK is to meet its climate targets and of course, the problem of earthquakes and naturally occurring radiation being brought to the surface. In Colorado the excessive rains and flooding led to flooded fracking drills causing more pollution. The cancer and pollution risks are too high.
Fracking wells in the US are already being abandoned and unconventional gas is not greener than conventional fossil fuels, mostly due to methane leaks from the wells themselves.
Greenpeace are also fighting against fracking and launching a legal challenge.
The World Wildlife Fund has called for a ban on fracking too.
The fracking company Cuadrilla has admitted that shale gas will not cut energy bills
Sign the petition against fracking here
http://tinyurl.com/qdtuzck
Severn Trent has stated that there are not enough water reserves for further large scale abstraction in the East Midlands and pollution of our water table will be dangerous, especially for dialysis patients, who need pure water.
Climate change is already costing the world *1.2 trillion each year and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people each year through extreme weather – the sort of weather Mr Cameron recently put down to climate change. Sir David King, former Chief Advisor to the government on climate change, referred specifically to the contamination of water, and to continuing climatic changes, because of fracking.
Derby and Derbyshire Friends of the Earth

I'm all for fracking but I still believe that we should still keep coal power stations running as a backup utility, or have a hybrid power station that can either run on coal or gas. And in the meantime this government should abandon all means of wind farm and solar technology and redistribute its government subsidies towards improving medical science, education, welfare and the disadvantaged.

my friend's mom makes *60/hr on the internet. She has been out of work for five months but last month her income was *16257 just working on the internet for a few hours. you could look here................................................ **************

Most protesters against fracking don't know much if anything about the practice. It has been a tried and tested method for 50 years or more, and here in the UK. Why haven't we heard of the problems before now? What are they anyway. Lincolnshire have had both oil and gas onshore facilities in all that time.
So, what about the US? Again, very few actual problems. Water catching fire? More common than you'd think. There are several forms of methane and at least one of them finds it's way into aquifers. Once at the surface, it comes out of suspension and can ignite, ever heard of marsh gas?
Chemical contamination? Again, tests have shown the chemicals are NOT related to the fracking fluid. In any case, where there has been problems, it's where people draw water from wells not a closed filtered system as we in the UK do.
Here is a subject that will polarise on prejudice. Just watch the comments here now.